


Jealousy

by collectingstories



Series: Rick Grimes shorts [1]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Established Feelings, F/M, Jealous Reader, Jealous Rick Grimes, Lori mentioned, Post-Alexandria Safe Zone, Some Fluff, terrible at communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 12:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17386751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collectingstories/pseuds/collectingstories
Summary: Based on the prompt: Hello there! Could I request a Rick Grimes one-shot where the reader and Rick are jealous of each other? Like, she's jealous of how Rick is giving too much attention to Jessie and he's jealous of the reader when a new group arrives at Alexandria and she spends too much time with this new and handsome boy. Everybody knows they have a thing for each other but the fools don't know how to handle the situation and give their love a chance.





	Jealousy

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty sure half of this is just my own frustration with Rick and Jessie's relationship.

“I know that look.” Michonne teased, shrugging on her constable jacket as she stepped out of the house. 

“I don’t have a look so I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You replied, glancing over your shoulder at her. 

You’d been waiting for Deanna to stop by this morning and had taken up residence on the porch, leaning against the banister and watching Rick chat up Jessie across the street. You had made your opinion of the woman clear from the get go but Rick was in some sort of rose-tinted haze that made him think being in Alexandria meant shacking up with the first person that reminded of Lori. 

“It’s just puppy love, you guys have been through too much together for you to get jealous just cause some girl bats her eyelashes at him.” Michonne said, watching Jessie say goodbye to Rick and head back in the direction of her house. 

“I’m not jealous and we’re just friends so there’s nothing to be jealous about.” 

“You’re not jealous, alright sure.” 

“I swear to god Michonne, I’m not. I just...I don’t think we should be getting comfortable here. What if something happens?” 

“You know Daryl is less paranoid than you.” Michonne said before heading down the steps and across the street to where Rick was. He waved to you and you nodded in return. 

You refused to believe that what Michonne said about you being jealous was true. You weren’t jealous, that wasn’t even a plausible explanation to your dislike of Jessie. It was survivor instinct, knowing that nothing was safe and none of your group would be wise to pretend that it was. Especially Rick. You knew these last couple of years had been hard on him but Alexandria wasn’t a vacation from the world now it was just a different way of living in it and he would do well to remember that. 

“Oh good, you’re already up and at ‘em.” Deanna called, walking up the sidewalk to you. 

You came down from the porch to meet her at the end of the front yard, taking note of the young man that stood beside her. He’d come in yesterday, Daryl and Aaron had found him and three others hiding out in an old warehouse. He was somewhere between your age and Rick’s, which was a good seven to ten year gap (if you were being honest Carl and Judith were the only people you could confidentially age). 

“This is Josiah,” Deanna introduced, “he came in yesterday with the new group.” 

“Yeah, I saw you guys at the gate,” you replied, introducing yourself and awkwardly shaking his hand. He seemed just as uncomfortable with the gesture. How do you greet a person who’s life your family just saved. “I see you’ve taken advantage of the hot shower.” Your foot-in-mouth was just as bad as it had been before but at least now you could blame it on decreased interaction with living people. 

“Definitely a nice change from a stream...or just generally hoping it rains.” He replied, not bothered with your awkwardness and dishing out some of his own. 

Deanna was quick to take hold of the conversation again, deciding that bonding over personal hygiene was good enough for her. “Well, I wanted to introduce the two of you because we’re beginning a crop garden and I want the two of you to head it up.” 

“Uh...alright.” 

You and Josiah followed Deanna to the future sight of the crop garden, a large plot originally meant for a house that had never been built. It was obvious that she had gotten no further past the idea than knowing she wanted a crop garden and sending Aiden out with the group for supplies from the seed store in the next town. She left you and Josiah there almost as soon as you walked up to the plot of land, heading back to her house for a “very important meeting with Maggie”. 

“Guess it’s just you and me then?” Josiah asked, looking over at you. 

“Guess so.” 

The whole garden would need to plotted out first and plants would have to be decided by likeliness to survive and ease of growing. It was a much more detailed job than Deanna figured it to be when she assigned only two people to it. The planning alone would take a good deal of time, which was why you invited Josiah back to the house you were sharing with Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Judith. 

You managed to find some old scrap paper in the office turned nursery and decided the dining room table was the best place to spread out as Josiah mapped the land. It gave you the opportunity to take over babysitting duty from Carl as well, so that he could follow Enid around and pretend to get along with Ron. 

“I used to be in city development before all this, and I grew up on a farm. I guess Deanna considers that a qualification for planting crops.” Josiah commented as he sketched out the area. 

“She said she’s great at reading people.” You replied, bouncing Judith slightly on your knee. 

“That’s what she told us too. Must be her hook.” He laughed. 

It was difficult to get used to new people, especially after living outside these walls for so long. Both of you felt that. But Josiah was easy going and being alone helped calm your worries about trusting anyone new, or maybe it was just that nothing felt quite as terrible with Judith around. 

“Is she yours?” Josiah asked, leaning closer to Judith, “hi, sweetheart.” 

“No, uh, the constable Rick, it’s his daughter.” 

“Oh yeah I met him...kinda...I guess scary isn’t the right word.” 

You laughed, “you shoulda seen him with the beard.” Though truth be told, you thought, you’d been sad to see the beard go. There was something surprisingly attractive about the man when he grew out his beard and you weren’t sure what that said about you because most of the time it had been dirtied with dried blood. 

By the time Rick finished the job Deanna wanted to pretend was real, Carl had joined you and Josiah at the table. Michonne almost bumped into her partner as he stopped in the entryway to the dining room, trying to assess who the stranger in his house was and why that man was sitting at his table with his family. Michonne gently nudged Rick’s back to move him forward and he looked back at her questioningly. 

“Hey dad,” Carl greeted, looking up from the box of seed packets that Glenn and Aiden had brought back from the run. Having grown bored at Ron’s house Carl had come home looking for something to do and you’d gladly passed the task of sorting seed packets to him. 

“Carl,” He nodded to his son as he stepped into the room, letting his gaze move to you. Judith still sat on your lap and you looked up at him, holding her hand in yours and pretending to wave at him. “Hi Judith,” he couldn’t help but laugh as he took her out of your arms and adjusted her so he could place a hand on your shoulder. “What’s going on?” 

“Deanna is planning a crop garden and Josiah here has been roped into helping along with yours truly.” You replied. Your hand came up to rest over Rick’s in a movement that was more subconscious than anything. Sasha had said to you once that if she didn’t know Lori was dead she would’ve assumed you were Rick’s wife just because of the way you and he acted around each other. It was a comment you had brushed off more than once. “How was your day?” 

“Boring.” Rick replied. He pulled the empty chair beside you out and sat down, turning Judith to face him. 

“Well I better get going, see how everyone else in my group is settling in.” Josiah announced, standing up. 

“I’ll walk you out.” You stood and walked out of the dining room after him, your hand ghosting over the back of Rick’s chair as you went, “I’ll be right in and make some dinner.” 

When the front door closed after the two of you Rick turned his attention back to Michonne. “Josiah?” He asked, the tone sounding halfway between annoyed and disbelieving. 

“You met him yesterday when-” 

“I remember.” Rick replied, missing the way Carl rolled his eyes at his father’s behavior. “Just didn’t think he’d be sitting in here with my family when I came in.” 

“Now what do you think Carl, is that jealousy I hear or is that jealousy that I hear?” Michonne joked, moving around the table to take Josiah’s vacated seat. 

“I’m not jealous of some guy that just showed up yesterday.” 

“You don’t have any reason to be anyway...it’s not like your together or anything.” Michonne commented. 

They quieted the minute the door opened back up again. The tension Rick felt from coming home and seeing you sitting at the table with Josiah slowly dissipated as the night went on. He put Judith to bed while you made dinner for the family. Sitting altogether at a table to eat still felt foreign after the years spent in other places. Even at the prison it hadn’t felt so domestic and normal to sit with each other like you were now. Dinner fell somewhere between the old world and the new, Carl complaining about his friends and their lack of understanding when it came to walkers. You shared a knowing look with Rick from across the table. The boy had the same complaint at the prison when Woodbury residents moved in and it didn’t surprise you to hear him bring it up again. 

“You look like your getting along with that girl hm?” Michonne mentioned, jokingly raising her eyebrows at him as she teased him. 

“What girl?” Rick asked. 

Life in Alexandria seemed to fall into a routine surprisingly quick. Most of your days were divided between the crop garden and taking care of Judith while Rick was out patrolling the street. You knew, based on the shortening of days, that autumn was quickly approaching and, even in Virginian temperatures there was a certain schedule you had to keep when planting or else nothing would grow in the spring. You had Judith out with you today, sitting on a blanket at the edge of the garden, a couple of toys that Olivia had found in storage laid out in front of her. Josiah had pulled a couple of guys from his group to help with the labor of planting. You had just dug your spade into the ground when you saw Rick walking up the street. You stopped to watch him as he looked up the street to where Jessie was on her porch. 

“Oh my god, ridiculous.” You groaned, driving the shovel especially hard into the earth. 

“You alright there?” Josiah asked, laying his hand on your arm. 

“Yeah fine, good.” You nodded, turning your head to face him. 

He offered you an encouraging smile and took the shovel from you hands. “Why don’t we take it from here?” 

You relented control of the crop garden to him willingly, taking Judith and heading back to your house. “I’m not jealous.” You whispered to the baby, unable to resist watching Rick walk the rest of the way up the street. “I can see why Jessie is fawning all over him but I'm not jealous.” 

Rick was headed down to the gate where Michonne had told him to meet her so they could talk to Deanna about reinforcements. He’d seen you with Josiah on the way there and he couldn’t help thinking that he was getting annoyed seeing the two of you together everytime he turned around. Things were safe here, for now, but that didn’t mean that you needed to get as comfortable as you seemed to be getting. You were acting like being behind these walls meant that the threat outside of them wasn’t real anymore, at least that’s how Rick felt whenever he watched the two of you together. He’d voiced the same concern to Michonne who had only laughed and told him that maybe he should talk to you about it. 

By the time Rick got home that night you had already put Judith to bed and were sitting on the couch in the living room, reading a book. You looked up at the sound of the door opening put your book down on the end table. 

“You know the more I sit on this couch the more uncomfortable it becomes.” You commented. “Maybe I’m just not used to it all anymore.” 

“I don’t know, you seem comfortable enough with this place.” He replied, taking off his jacket and constable shirt, leaving him in a white undershirt and pants. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You asked. 

“I’ve seen you with Josiah lately, seem mighty comfortable.” He mused, disappearing into the kitchen for a moment and then coming back with a protein bar in hand. 

“I’m building the crop garden, like Deanna asked me to do. Because you asked me to try and get along with the people here, to build something so we aren’t always running.” You replied. “I’m not gonna be rude to him, we’re meant to be helping here so I’m helping and that means being friendly sometimes.” 

“I think it’s a little more than friendly.” Rick said, meaning it to sound like a joke but it came out harsh. 

“Says the man who’s practically shacking up with the pretty blond housewife.” You replied. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Come on Rick, how long have we known each other? Don’t make me say it.” 

“No, I’m interested to hear what you have to say to me.” Rick replied, taking a seat on the coffee table across from you. His knee bumped yours and you shifted on the couch. 

“I know she reminds you of Lori-” 

“Jessie does not-” 

“Rick. You want to hear what I have to say than listen to me.” You said. “I know it’s been hard since Lori died and I know Jessie reminds you of that. Of her, of before this shit, of your old self. But that’s all gone. You aren’t Sherriff of Kings County anymore and donning some stupid constable outfit doesn’t bring that back. I’m not the comfortable one, you are.” 

“You think that’s what’s going on?” 

“I know that’s what’s going on. That’s why you’re shooting heart eyes at Jessie all the time. You think she’s gonna be your second chance but you can’t forget all the shit that got us here or the person you had to be out there to get us here. Jessie can’t change that or make it go away. You’re wasting time thinking you like somebody and getting comfortable because she reminds you of what you used to have.” 

“That’s not what this is.” He replied, “I’m just trying to help her.” 

“Saint Rick then.” 

“You’ve got some nerve sitting here talking shit when you’re out there all day with Josiah, eating at his place, getting to know his group-” 

“His group? We’re all supposed to be one community.” 

“Don’t start that with me. You want to tell me that I’m trying to replace something I lost then what are you trying to do. Getting comfortable playing house with some guy, acting like there’s nothing to worry about out there.” He commented. 

“I am not ‘playing house’! I’m watching your daughter everyday while you go parading around in a stupid uniform pretending like this job is important!” 

“I’m trying to fit in here so we can make something for Carl and Judith. So that out there isn’t the only place for us.” Rick argued. 

“And I would love to help you when you’re not being an ass.” 

“I’m not the one who started this.” 

“You walked in the door with an attitude Rick!” 

“All I said-” 

“Could you both keep it down?” Carl’s voice came from the stairs. Both of you stood and looked to the stairwell where he stood in pajamas, looking aggravated at being woken up. “You’re both idiots god!” He stormed back up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door. 

You let out a breath when it was silent, relieved that your arguing and Carl’s slamming of the door hadn’t woken Judith. “I’m gonna go to bed.” 

“Wait,” Rick grabbed your arm, “I don’t want to go bed like this...angry at each other.” 

“I meant what I said Rick. Jessie can’t replace what you lost and I’d wish you’d stop trying to. The person you are now, the one that got us here...that’s what this place needs. That’s what we need.” You stressed. “I’m not mad at you.” 

“You sound pretty mad at me.” 

“I’m just...” you shook your head, the word jealous dying in the back of your throat. But you knew that’s what it was. You were jealous. Michonne was right. 

“I know it’s a lot to ask you to step up and help with Judith, I can ask Carol, if you’d rather. Give you a chance to do your own thing around here.” He replied. 

“I don’t wanna stop taking care of Judith. I love her like she was mine.” You reassured. 

Rick stopped himself from saying that sometimes he wished you were. That was too much to put on you and he wasn’t sure he was ready to admit that to himself either. He did know that you were right, he was trying to hold on to the old life because when he thought about a new one, a life that included you in a capacity that was more than just a friend or fellow survivor, it felt too unknown. What if you weren’t interested? What if someone like Josiah was more what you were looking for? After everything he’d done, everything you’d witnessed him do, how could he be sure that you would want that. 

“I’ll let you get to bed,” Rick released his hold on your arm, “sorry for coming in like that.” 

“Sorry for yelling at you.” 

“I needed it.” He replied, “trying to clear somethings up in my head. Helps to have someone bring me back to reality.” 

“Well, I’m your person then.” You joked, heading toward the staircase, “we make a good team Rick.” 

“That’s what I’ve been thinking.”


End file.
